Mother of Pearl

The premise of Mother of Pearl is that, each season, the brand collaborates with a different well-known artist and translates his or her work into clothes. Given that approach, the label maintains astonishing consistency from collection to collection, always emphasizing a few key silhouettes. This time out, adapting the work of multimedia artist Francesco Simeti, Mother of Pearl expanded its signatures and, to some degree, shifted its tone. This was an unusually tailored and even ladylike collection for the line.

If brand mastermind Maia Norman knew before approaching Simeti that she wanted to shake things up this season, then he was a wise choice of artist to work with. His wallpaper prints don't require much engineering, which meant that they sat nicely on the collection's tailored jackets and ruffled skirts and dresses. Alternatively, perhaps it was Simeti's work itself that inspired the change. At any rate, the baroque quality of his prints made them well suited to scalloped edging and fullish, floor-length skirts. Overall, the tonal refinements here were tentative—the trademark Mother of Pearl sportiness was still much in evidence—but they did a fair amount to expand the brand vocabulary.

One additional note: This season, Mother of Pearl is launching a range of scarves, featuring prints not only by Simeti but by previous collaborators such as Jim Lambie and Fred Tomaselli as well. Good move.